An everyday tale of family and political life with a dollop of Formula One and various random thoughts on the side.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

You Couldn't Make it Up

Honestly, all over the world, ordinary people are suffering because of the irresponsibility of banks. So what happens to the people who carried out these ridiculous practices of lending money to people who were never in a million years going to be able to pay it back just cos their bonuses depended on the amount of money they could lend out rather than the long term stability of the institution?

Are these wealthy senior managers going to be sent away with their tails between their legs, out of work, just like the many thousands of others who have lost their jobs?

No. According to the Sunday Times says that while we'll all be paying higher taxes (up to 5p in the pound more), pushing even more people to the point of homelessness and joblessness, part of the deal with Barclays taking over some of Lehman Bros was that 8 senior New York Execs and 200 key staff will get a total of $2.5 billion dollars in bonuses for their performances over the last 9 months.

This is a complete abomination. Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor got it right as usual when he said "This is outrageous and completely cynical. They are being rewarded for business behaviour that has wrecked their own bank. The wider public that is ultimately paying for this let alone lower paid employees will be furious."

There has to be some getting together of world leaders to try to do something about the way banks operate. The global economy can't be held to ransom by the likes of the short sellers. The rewards system has to be linked to sustainability and community in some way, so that people aren't raking in huge bonuses harvested from other people's misery.